Pearly dreams and sweet smell of success JOHN BEVERIDGE HERALD SUN MARCH 18, 2014 12:00AM
WHAT does a pearl smell like?
I haven’t a clue but one of the few men who knows — Atlas Pearls and Perfumes chief executive Steve Birkbeck — claims early versions have a “complex marine’’ aroma.
Other than that he is tight-lipped about the process, the results and the potential uses in complementary medicine.
I did manage to find out no beautiful pearls are being sacrificed for this new perfume extract, rather mother of pearl is being powdered and processed using carbon dioxide, among other methods.
“It is an exciting new extract and it is ideally suited to be blended with others to produce some truly unique fragrances,’’ said Mr Birkbeck, who boasts extensive contacts in the French luxury goods market.
Whether or not genuine pearlescent scents and cosmetics start appearing in glossy magazines, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes as a company has come through a few years of restructuring and is just emerging from the other side.
The two main businesses are Indonesian pearl production through five pearl farms and Essential Oils of Tasmania, which produces scents from Apple Isle crops.
Both business units are expanding, with Essential Oils in the process of moving to a new tourist and manufacturing facility at Brookfield near Hobart.
The Indonesian pearl business is trying to reach 240,000 high quality pearls by 2016-17 and eventually 375,000 pearls a year.
It is also working on increasing weight and quality through selective breeding and aims to keep a white/silver lustre equal to any other pearls on the market.
Already the Indonesian pearls have a significant cost advantage over the generally larger Australian pearls, which has allowed the company to survive the tough market conditions and lower prices of the past few years.
The turnaround has produced some early results, with revenue more than doubling in the December half to $9.3 million and a net profit of $200,000 emerging from previous losses.
However, Mr Birkbeck is aiming higher, trying to forge a partnership with one of the large French luxury houses to escalate volumes and margins for the pearls and perfumes.
He is hoping to boost sales to $26 million and pre-tax profit to $5 million by 2015-16.
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